3-year-old girl dies from COVID-19 infection; third patient under 12 to die of the disease in Singapore

SINGAPORE: A three-year-old girl died of COVID-19 in Singapore on Tuesday (Sep 13), the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Wednesday.

She is the third patient under 12 to die of the disease in Singapore. 

The Singaporean girl had a history of multiple medical conditions prior to contracting COVID-19, said MOH in response to media queries.

She tested positive for the coronavirus via an antigen rapid test on Aug 9 and was admitted to hospital on Aug 13.

She died on Tuesday of anoxic brain injury - a lack of oxygen to the brain - due to cardiac arrest and COVID-19 infection, the Health Ministry said.

In June, a one-and-a-half-year-old Singaporean boy became Singapore's first coronavirus death in a patient under 12. 

The cause of his death was encephalitis due to COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus and enterovirus infections. 

He had no other past medical history and was previously well, MOH said in June. 

The second fatality was a four-year-old Singaporean girl who died in July. 

She had no past medical history and was previously well, said MOH then. 

Singapore reported 2,426 new COVID-19 cases as of noon on Wednesday, including 2,166 local infections. 

Singapore has recorded 1,867,168 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, and 1,604 deaths.